Insert Lots And Lots Of Guns Here
by Wragnaroq
Summary: An ACMSES story. It's finally time for Stephen's final confrontation with Nameless, and only one of them is going to be leaving Pandora alive. The final story in the Nameless Arc. Rated T for violence and language.


A/N: This story will make little sense to anybody unfamiliar with the Anti-Cliche and Mary-Sue Elimination Society. If you would like to become familiar, check out our C2. All characters besides my own belong to their respective owners, and I do not own Borderlands.

* * *

Insert Lots And Lots Of Guns Here

* * *

"I am incredibly nervous about this," Stephen announced. "I just thought I'd let you know."

"Quit whining. We're almost there," Hati said, giving the blindfolded Stephen another shove.

"I am _not _whining, I am stating a fact," Stephen corrected her.

"Shuuut up."

"Nah. So, what's so important that you had to grab me literally right after Val discharged me?" Stephen asked.

"Turning left," Hati said, grabbing Stephen's collar and directing him down another hallway. "It's something that I think you'll _really _like."

"Do I get any hints?"

"Just one. It's gonna be very useful for hunting Nameless on Pandora," Hati said. "Ooh! We're here!"

"_Finally_," Stephen said.

"Ready?" Hati asked, obviously giddy. She tore the blindfold off Stephen's face. Stephen blinked at the sight in front of him.

A blue door.

"The time travel literature room?" Stephen said, reading the sign above the door.

"Yep."

"How is this going to help?"

"Let's just say that time in there is a little bit… zonky," Hati said, reaching for the doorknob. She didn't have to open it, however, as it burst open and a terrified, familiar-looking Agent dashed out, shoving his way past Hati and uttering a quick apology. He was out of sight a second later.

"Was that…" Stephen said, pointing to where the running Agent had gone. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. A second later, another familiar-looking Agent ran past him, screaming obscenities and swinging a cricket bat.

"What… what just happened?" Stephen asked.

"As I said: _zonky_," Hati reiterated. "Which is why it was _perfect _for my purposes."

"What purposes?" Stephen asked, following Hati into the room.

"_This _purpose!" Hati announced, dramatically pointing at the centerpiece of the room. A large tube with a curled up body inside it. "I put it in here a few weeks ago so it could grow, a few years passed in this room, and it reached maturity _just _in time for your mission!"

"…Wow. Is… is this…?" Stephen asked, looking over the form in the tube. It was blue, had a long ponytail, numerous luminescent points all over its body, and it had a face exactly like Stephen's.

"Your own Avatar!" Hati said proudly. "Now, I know what you're thinking. 'Hati, you are _such _a generous person. Hati, you are the best leader the Society could _ever _ask for!'"

"I... I don't know what to say. Really, I…" Stephen cleared his throat. "You shouldn't have."

"I know, I know, I shouldn't have dipped into the Society's budget to have this thing made, but since you're going to be headed off to Pandora soon…"

"No, I mean you _really _shouldn't have."

"…Explain."

"Let me think of some way to put this so that you don't want to kill me," Stephen said, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, I can't think of one. Hati, I'm not going to Avatar."

Hati looked at him with a small smile on her face.

A cricket bat appeared in her hands a second later.

"_What_."

"I never said I was going to Avatar!"

"You said that you were going to Pandora!"

"Yeah, the _planet _Pandora!"

"So?"

"The Pandora in Avatar is a _moon! _And I was _explicitly _told that Nameless would be waiting for my on the _planet _Pandora!"

"Then what fandom _are _you going to?"

"A game called Borderlands!"

"So you _don't _need this _very expensive _Avatar?"

"No?"

Hati's eye started to twitch. "Do you have _any _idea how much this thing _cost?_"

"…No."

"Neither do I. I pretty much just signed the check. But I'm pretty sure _it was a very big number_," She said. She pointed the cricket bat at his face. "_And now it's coming out of your paycheck._"

"I don't _get _a paycheck!"

"GRAAAH!" Hati screamed.

"So _that's _why he was running," Stephen realized. He turned around and ran, throwing the door open and barging past Hati from a few moments ago. "Sorry! Sorry!" He shouted as he ran. He dug into his pocket and yanked out his Plothole Generator. If there was a time to get started on the mission, it would be _now_.

After shakily punching the coordinates into the Generator, he opened a Plothole and dove in.

Next stop, Borderlands.

* * *

In order to understand Pandora, a comparison must be made. Imagine the galaxy as being a human body. Got it?

Pandora is located somewhere in its ass-crack.

The entire planet is a barren wasteland, and filled to the brim with dangers. The fauna is aggressive and plentiful. The bandits, made up of former convicts used as cheap labor for mining corporations, outnumber the normal population three-to-one. The days are ninety hours long, and one year is equal to ten Earth years.

And then there's the Vault.

Long ago, an alien race called the Eridians populated the planet, and it is believed that they left behind a massive cache of advanced technology. People have been searching for it for years, but they usually don't last long enough to find it.

Of course, that doesn't matter right now.

* * *

A single dune buggy-like vehicle tore across the barren wastes of the eastern Rust Commons. It had only two occupants, one in the driver's seat and another in the turret on the back. Both of them were bandits.

They didn't notice the hole opening in reality a few yards ahead of them and several feet off the ground. They did, however, notice the kid that fell out of it and directly into the driver's lap.

"What the _fuck!_" The driver screamed. Stephen, noticing that he was in a car, turned green.

"Oh Kamina, _pull over!_" He screamed. The driver slammed down on the brakes, launching Stephen out of the vehicle. As soon as he stopped rolling, he began emptying his stomach on the ground. The bandits just stared at him for a minute before getting out of the dune buggy.

"Where the _fuck _did you come from?" The driver demanded, aiming his shotgun at the vomiting Agent.

"Hold on, is that…" The other bandit said, peering at Stephen's face. He lowered his revolver instantly. "Holy shit, it's the boss!"

"Are you serious? There's no way that's the boss!" The driver said.

"It looks just like him!"

"Has he killed us yet?"

The bandit checked himself for wounds. "Guess not," He said. "If he's not the boss, then… holy _shit_," The bandit raised his revolver again. "That's him! The kid we're supposed to be looking for!"

"Okay, okay… I think I'm good," Stephen said, confident that the vomiting had ended.

"Get the hell up, buddy," The driver ordered. "We've got someone just dying to meet you."

He leveled the shotgun at Stephen's head. "Hands behind your head. Now."

Stephen slowly did so. He stood up slowly, and the two bandits kept their weapons trained on him. "Don't forget to check him for weapons," The bandit with the revolver said.

"I know, I know," The other bandit said. "Walk over to the Runner, nice and easy…"

Stephen made his way over to the dune buggy. "Hands on the hood," The shotgun bandit ordered.

"Are you sure?" Stephen asked. A small grin was on his face.

"Yes, I'm fucking sure. Hands on the hood," The bandit repeated, jabbing Stephen with his shotgun again.

"Okay," Stephen said. "Your funeral."

He thrust his hands forward, punching his fingers into the metal to give himself a proper handhold.

"What the fuck…" Were the shotgun bandit's last words. With a mighty shout, Stephen swung the Runner into the bandit, producing a sickening crack and sending the bandit tumbling across the ground like a ragdoll.

"What the hell?" The other bandit screamed. Stephen threw the Runner at him, but the bandit was smart enough to duck. While he was down, Stephen ran forward and kneed him in the face, sending him to the ground.

"Now then…" Stephen said, grabbing the bandit by the collar and lifting him off the ground. "I've got a few questions for you."

The bandit responded by putting his revolver to Stephen's temple. "Dumbass," He said, and pulled the trigger. Stephen's eyes turned gray.

The bullet bounced off his skin, striking the bandit in the forearm. He screamed and dropped the gun. Stephen's eyes turned blue again.

"What the _fuck _are you?" The bandit screamed.

"Slightly annoyed. Now _talk,_" Stephen said. "Who's your boss?"

"_Fuck _you!"

With his free hand, Stephen reached down and picked up the fallen revolver. He held it in front of the bandit's face, then crushed the gun like it was made out of tinfoil. The useless scrap fell to the ground.

"…H-he calls himself Nameless. I don't know why, he probably just thinks it sounds cool. He-he showed up a few weeks ago at Krom's Canyon, killed Krom – our old boss, hell of a douchebag – without even breaking a sweat, and told us that we could either work for him or end up like Krom. So we all pretty much decided that we needed a new boss anyway and…"

"Where is he?"

"Still in Krom's Canyon, to the northeast. He's been having us comb the Commons looking for a guy who looked just like him, I guess that was you and…"

"What are the defenses like?" Stephen asked, cutting the bandit's rambling off.

"There's two machine gun turrets on the pillars in the basin outside the canyon entrance, and another one just outside the entrance. There're always at least fifty guys patrolling the basin, too. Machine guns, all of 'em," The bandit started to whimper. "Oh, _Angel, _please don't kill me. I-I wasn't really trying to shoot you, really, it was a-a joke, yeah, a j-"

Stephen dropped the bandit with a bit more force than was absolutely necessary. "You have five seconds to get the hell out of here," He said, putting a hand over his eyes. "And I started counting three seconds ago."

When he uncovered his eyes two seconds later, the bandit had wisely made like a tree and run away like a bat out of hell.

That's not a very good analogy, is it? Oh, whatever.

"Let's see, the canyon is to the north-east… the north-east iiiiisss… that way?" Stephen guessed, pointing in a random direction. He glanced at the now upside-down Runner.

"Maybe I should…"

The Runner suddenly grew a mustache.

"Choo choo!" It shouted.

"Nope," Stephen said, turning away from the vehicle.

* * *

Stephen glanced over the top of the old dam outside the basin, his Rise-enhanced sight scanning over the area. Sure enough, there were two turrets on top of the tall pillars, and another one just in front of the canyon's entrance. He could see several bandits walking through the rubble and knee-deep water, machine guns in hand.

"Let's see here…" He said to himself. "I could just charge in there…"

* * *

_Stephen ran into the basin, screaming his head off like a berserker. A second later, the two turrets came to life and filled him with bullets._

* * *

"…Not happening," Stephen said, dropping his Rise and hopping down from his vantage point. He made his way out of the dried up river, stroking his chin and plotting his next move. "I could wait for nightfall and try to sneak in…"

* * *

"_Do you hear somebody humming?" A bandit whispered to his partner._

"_Yeah, I think…" The other bandit paused. "Where did this box come from?"_

"_Nowhere! You should probably just take me to Nameless!" The box suggested. The two bandits emptied their clips into the flimsy cardboard. A few seconds later, blood started to pool around the bottom._

"_Is that all you… got?" The box taunted, obviously in pain._

_The bandits reloaded._

"_Oh bugger."_

* * *

"Nah, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from humming 'Pink Panther'," Stephen said. "I'm going to need something crazy, something stupid, something…"

There was a low growling nearby. Stephen turned to look at it, his shoulders slumping when he recognized its source. "Just what I needed," He grumbled.

It was the size and shape of a small dog, but having four limbs and a head was where the similarities ended. It was almost reptilian, with no fur on its ugly body and no eyes to speak of on its ax-shaped head. It's entire head opened vertically, letting out a feral howl and revealing sharp teeth and exposed, pink flesh. It bounded across the dry ground to attack what it conceived as being easy prey.

"Fore," Stephen said casually, swinging his leg and punting the skag whelp almost thirty feet. It crashed into a rock, and slumped to the ground lifelessly. "Aaand it's good."

There were more growls nearby. More skag whelps, accompanied by a horse-sized, armor-plated alpha skag, and they were surrounding Stephen. He groaned up at the sky. "The universe hates me. It's official."

* * *

The assembled Agents of the Society stared at the macabre new ceiling decoration, just strung up by Hati. A tall, blue Stephen.

"Um, Hati, isn't that…" Dave started to say, but was cut off by Hati pointing her cricket bat at him.

"I know what you _think _this may look like. You might think that it looks like Stephen. That is because you are stupid. _Obviously_, it is a big piñata, and we are going to beat the ever-loving candy out of it with this bat," Hati said.

"There's candy inside?" Tyler repeated, his face brightening. John put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head in answer. Tyler pouted and crossed his arms.

"Can I go first?" Willie asked, grinning madly.

"No. We are going to do this alphabetically…"

"Kyaa…"

"Starting, and ending, with 'H'."

"Phew…"

"So, is it just going to be us watching you beat the tar out of Stephen's clone?" Ben asked.

"Piñata, and yes," Hati said.

"I'll go get popcorn," Tom said a bit too quickly.

* * *

Stephen grunted as he struggled against the alpha skag as it tried to shove him to the ground, using his prodigious strength to keep the beast's freaky face-jaw shut. The skag whelps had all been taken care of, so it was just Stephen and the alpha. Stephen switched his grip on the skag to try something he had never done before.

"I don't have…" He grunted, planting his feet and clasping his hands underneath the alpha skag's head. He bent backwards as far as he could go, lifting the skag off the ground and slamming it back down in a surprisingly well-executed duplex. Stephen rolled out of his awkward bent position and jumped onto the skag elbow-first.

"…_Time _for this!" He finished, delivering a finishing blow to the creature's unprotected underbelly. The alpha skag fell still. Stephen stood up and raised his hands above his head in triumph.

"Who's next?" He challenged. A second later, he dropped his hands. "On second thought, that was a rhetorical question!"

The universe, mercifully, did not throw any more skags at him. Stephen offered a quick prayer to the hammy god of GAR.

"Okay, back to the plotting," He decided, putting a hand back on his chin and continuing his aimless pacing. "I don't think there's pizza delivery on Pandora… and I don't have any pizza – whoop!" Stephen stumbled on the corpse of a skag whelp, waving his arms so as not to fall. He was able to regain his balance quickly, and shot a glare at the dead animal that had nearly tripped him.

"Stupid little…"

Stephen's eyes widened.

"…Oh, that is… that is completely insane," He said to himself. An evil-mannered giggle started to bubble up in his throat. "It's completely moronic." Bereft of a mustache to twirl, he started rubbing his hands together. His giggling proceeded to full-fledged evil laughter.

"This might be _the greatest plan I have ever had,_" He congratulated himself.

* * *

Stephen stared up at the massive wall of scrap metal in front of him. In his hands were two long pieces of wood, each skewering a single fire-roasted skag whelp. The stench was horrific, and he was willing to bet the taste was just as bad. But it would work.

Stephen kicked down the metal wall, walking calmly into the enclosure. Across the plains, there was a dark cave in the mesa wall, a variety of bones strewn around it. Even from so far away, Stephen could hear the heavy breathing of a massive creature coming from inside. Once again, he giggled to himself at the dual brilliance and stupidity of his plan. Soon, he stood in front of the large cave, feeling the hot breath of its occupant on his skin. Without a trace of fear, he pulled back his arm and threw one of the roast skags into the cave.

"Food's up, ugly!" He shouted. There was a disgusting sound of the 'food' being eaten, the bones and wooden stake being crunched by massive teeth.

A second later, a single, massive clawed leg stepped out of the cave, shaking the earth. Stephen started running backwards, waving the second roast skag above his head. "Hey! You want this?" He shouted. The beast growled at him, halfway out of the cave now. "Come and get it!" And he turned around and ran full sprint back to the part of the wall he had knocked down, still holding the skag above his head. The titanic beast let loose a deep roar, and Stephen felt the earth shake as it chased him in massive bounds.

And Stephen laughed like an idiot the entire time.

* * *

The boring patrol of the basin outside Krom's Canyon was interrupted by something very, very odd. Namely, a bandit being struck by a roast skag that fell from the sky.

He didn't have any time to wonder where it had come from, because a second later, a loud voice echoed through the basin.

"HEEEEEEEEERRRREEEEEE'S…" It sounded. A massive shape leaped over the dam, with the appearance of being a regular skag, except it was ten times larger. It went straight for the roasted skag, devouring it and the screaming bandit it had struck in one big gulp.

"SKAAAGGGZILLAA!" The voice finished.

And Skagzilla, the biggest skag on Pandora, opened its face and roared.

* * *

"Boss! Boss!" A bandit screamed, running towards the cloaked form of the bandit boss. "Boss, there's a… a thing out in the basin! A huge fucking skag, and it's tearing us apart!"

"How many are dead?" Nameless asked, his tone of voice making it clear that he really did not give a shit.

"I think… I think I'm the only one left, boss," The bandit said. "I'm not sure, there might be others, but…"

Nameless stood up and walked past the terrified bandit towards the basin. A smirk was on his face as he stepped out of the canyon and into the basin, greeted by the sight of Skagzilla crushing one of the two turrets on the pillars. It turned to look at him, viewing the cloaked Stu as just another piece of meat. The massive skag decided that it wanted its next snack roasted, and drew back its head, filling its lungs with air.

Nameless only lifted his right arm, letting the skull ring on his hand catch the light. "Weapon Ärm…" He intoned. "_Reaper's Blade_."

The silver ring started to glow, and changed shape. Skagzilla snapped its head forward, opening its mouth and letting loose a beam of white energy, engulfing Nameless.

A split second after Skagzilla had fired the beam, Nameless appeared behind it, his back to the giant skag and a sword in his hand. It had a long, curved silver blade, both edges sharp as razors. The blade seemed to grow out of a skull that was in place of the absent cross-guard, atop a hilt shaped like a human femur, with a smooth, round turquoise gem on the pommel, replacing the ball joint.

Nameless flicked the sword, scowling with contempt at Skagzilla, who was confused over where its next meal had gone. "Dumb animal," Nameless said, walking away from Skagzilla as a thin line appeared on its belly. In a heartbeat, the line started spraying blood, and Skagzilla fell to the ground, dead.

"It's just you and me now, creator! Come out!" Nameless shouted.

Stephen stepped out of his hiding spot, on top of the dam. "Hello, Nameless!" He shouted. "How've you been?"

"Cut the small talk, creator. We both know that's not what you're here for," Nameless remarked, walking towards the dam. Stephen jumped down, landing in the basin and walking in Nameless's direction.

"Alright, fine," He said, pulling out his badge and holding it in front of him. "Nameless, on my authority as an Agent of the Anti-Cliché and Mary-Sue Elimination Society, you are under arrest for two counts of attempted murder of an Agent, repeated destruction of Society property, and several cases of assisting fandom manipulation. If you turn yourself in peacefully, no harm will come to you."

Nameless laughed. "One of us isn't leaving this place alive, creator. I don't intend for it to be me."

"We don't have to do this, Nameless!" Stephen shouted, returning his badge to his pocket. "You don't have to fight me!"

"Maybe I don't," Nameless admitted. "But I _want _to."

"Is that your final answer?" Stephen asked, his pace quickening.

"Absolutely," Nameless answered, matching his pace to Stephen's.

"Then…" Stephen took another step, slamming his foot into the ground, gathering his Rise. "Let's finish this."

He kicked off the ground, launching forward at his opponent, fist pulled back for a strike. Nameless stepped to the side of the attack, swinging his sword at Stephen's throat. Stephen pulled his head back, narrowly avoiding the blade but taking a shallow cut on his neck for his efforts. Using his momentum from his initial attack, he spun around, his leg raised for a kick to Nameless's middle. Nameless dodged the kick, and lunged at Stephen's stomach as soon as the leg touched the ground.

Stephen clapped his hands on the sides of the blade, but his grip didn't stop its progress until he grunted out one word. "Ironhide!"

His eyes turned a stony grey. The sword, suddenly trapped between hands made of stone, stopped. Nameless tried to yank it free, unsuccessfully. He groaned and planted his foot on Stephen's stomach, doubling his efforts. While he was doing that, Ironhide timed out, and Stephen's body turned back into regular flesh. With no more resistance, the Reaper's Blade was pulled out of Stephen's grip in the direction that Nameless was directing it. Which was backwards. And, since Nameless had been bracing his leg against Stephen's stomach, and Stephen was suddenly much lighter than he had been a second ago, he was shoved back by Nameless's foot, sending him crashing to the ground while his enemy stumbled backwards, quickly regaining his balance.

"Okay…" Stephen said, getting back to his feet. "Not bad."

"I could say the same, creator," Nameless responded, readying his sword again. "But I'm not a very big fan of telling lies."

"Ouch," Stephen said, lifting an eyebrow. He and Nameless started to circle each other, neither one making any attempt to attack.

"I've still got the upper hand," Nameless said. "I won't fall for the same trick twice."

"Then it looks like I'll have to use a _new _trick," Stephen said. He clenched his fists, and tightened his concentration. His eyes turned a very light shade of grey.

"Hmph," Nameless grunted, and he charged forward, his sword scraping the ground. He made an upward slash at Stephen, but Stephen stopped the blade with a forearm. The blade did not cut into his skin. Instead, it bounced off as if it had struck stone.

"Surprise!" Stephen said. He struck Nameless across the face with his other hand, and then hit him with a kick to the midsection, knocking Nameless ten feet away. The Stu skidded to a halt in a three-point landing position, a bruise forming on his face where Stephen had struck him.

"I've been stuck in bed for the past two weeks. Got some practice in," Stephen said nonchalantly, tapping his fists together, producing the sound of stone striking stone. "Ironhide variation, Gargoyle."

"Impressive," Nameless said. "It's good to see it wasn't a mistake to save you in Psyren."

"Save me in… _What?_" Stephen repeated. Nameless did not respond, instead darting forward again with his sword drawn back. Stephen raised his arms to defend, but Nameless feinted, swinging at Stephen's undefended side. Stephen hopped back, receiving only a light cut beneath his ribs. Nameless went on the offensive now, striking out at Stephen at high speeds. Stephen was barely able to block the attacks, and was forced to start backing up.

"What you don't realize, creator, is that when you entered Psyren, you caught Nemesis Q's eye. He was surprised that someone had suddenly broken through the walls of the universe, and he decided to send you to Psyren. Even if you didn't want to," Nameless spoke as he continued his onslaught.

_The calling card striking him on the head. Dragging him to the phone booth. Locking him in. Answered all the questions for him. Didn't let him say 'no'._

"Did you know that if it wasn't for the sudden disappearance of the membrane in the sky, you would have been discovered and killed by WISE?" Nameless asked. "Of course you didn't."

"The membrane… disappeared because of… that Sue. Genevieve! She was under your command!" Stephen realized. Nameless got off another lucky hit, cutting Stephen on the upper arm.

"So, it's only your forearms that are made of stone," He mused.

"How the hell are you so sure I'd have been killed by WISE? Answer!" Stephen shouted, trying to counterattack but failing. Nameless blocked his attempt almost casually, and returned to the offensive without missing a beat.

"During my time in the Vault of Abandoned Ideas, I met a girl. She was a prophet character, before her author abandoned her. She told me about how you would one day join the Society, and that I would have my chance to have my revenge. She told me about how you would go to Psyren, and how you would die there, as well as a dozen other ways you could die," Nameless said.

"Oh, I bet _that _made you happy," Stephen said, attempting to sweep Nameless's legs out from under him. Nameless jumped over the sweep, and landed a kick to Stephen's face. With Stephen's guard dropped, he scored a cut to Stephen's thigh.

"Honestly? I felt _cheated. _I _hated _you, creator. _I _wanted to be the one to kill you. Not some worthless psycho from a fandom that didn't even exist at the time."

Stephen took advantage of an opening in Nameless's defenses, throwing a punch at his face. Nameless just ducked under it, and hit Stephen in the ribs with the pommel of his sword.

"I wanted revenge for what you did to me. So, using information from the prophet girl, I escaped when Foxblade broke the Elementals out of the Vault. I spent some time wandering the Multiverse, keeping my head low but growing in power. I manipulated that oaf Absicus into thinking he was me, and sent him to MÄR. He was only a _test _for you. To see how strong you were."

Nameless got through Stephen's defenses again, making another cut across Stephen's belly. "I wasn't very impressed by what I saw. There's no honor in killing a _weakling_."

"You kept me alive so youcould kill me when I was 'stronger'?" Stephen asked. "Man, you need a _hobby._"

Stephen's attempt to get a rise out of Nameless was successful. Nameless's eyelid started to twitch dangerously. "A _hobby_," He repeated, his attacks slowing for a second. They quickly returned to their former pace. "A _hobby?_"

"What's wrong? Mad?" Stephen asked.

"Don't you _dare _joke with me! You brought me to life and sent me to hell!" Nameless screamed, his emotionless façade gone. He was swinging madly now, without any semblance of form. "You started writing me on a _whim, _barely even plotted out what would happen to me, and when you realized that I wasn't going to bear fruit, you _abandoned _me!"

"Not every idea can become a story, Nameless. I'm sorry, but you were just one of those ideas," Stephen said. He was finding it easier to block Nameless's attacks now that the furious Stu was relying on brute strength rather than speed and skill.

"You _forgot _me! I don't even have a _name!_" Nameless screamed, bringing his sword down towards Stephen's skull. Stephen raised one arm and easily stopped the blade, looked Nameless dead in the eye, and said four words.

"_Your name is Hanabi._"

A second later, it was over. Nameless faltered for an instant, but it was all Stephen needed. Stephen wound up and slammed Nameless in the stomach with an uppercut, channeling every ounce of his power into that one strike. Nameless left the ground, flying almost fifteen feet into the air. He landed on his back, his hands empty. A second later, the Reaper's Blade came back down.

Astoundingly, Nameless didn't scream when the sword pierced his belly, pinning him to the ground like a butterfly in a display case. He only gave a breathless gasp, staring down at the sword in disbelief. He looked over at his creator.

"Ha-Hanabi… h-how…" He coughed out.

"Hanabi was my favorite Japanese word back when I wrote you," Stephen said. "It finally hit me back in Deadman Wonderland. It means 'fireworks'."

At this, Hanabi started to laugh softly, coughing out blood. "It's… a girl's name," He said.

"Yeah, I didn't know that when I wrote you," Stephen said sheepishly. "Sorry."

Hanabi laughed again. "Years of planning, finally over. Manipulating lesser Sues, original characters, laying out so many clues like an Easter Egg hunt… finished," He said. "And at the end of it all, I find out… that I have a girl's name."

"I can change it if you want," Stephen offered, standing at the dying Stu's side.

"No," Hanabi said. "Absolutely not. It's… _my _name."

"I see," Stephen said, crouching down. Hanabi weakly raised one fist and tapped Stephen on the jaw, trying to get in one last hit.

"I still hate you, creator," He confessed. "Because of you, I was trapped in a living hell for something that wasn't my fault. But, still…" He gave a weak smile. "Thank you. For letting me exist."

"You're welcome," Stephen said.

"Just… do me one last favor. Please," Hanabi said, his voice becoming difficult to hear. "Don't… don't you dare forget me again."

"I won't," Stephen promised.

Hanabi smiled, and his head fell as the light left his eyes. He let out one final breath, and he was gone. His body began to fade away not long after, leaving no trace that the Stu had ever been there.

"Rest in peace, you bastard," Stephen said, standing up. He pulled the Reaper's Blade out of the ground, looking over the blade appraisingly. His mind made up, he pulled out his Plothole Generator. He looked at it for a second, and started laughing.

"Son of a… son of a _bitch_," He said. There was a cut on the Generator, from when Hanabi had cut Stephen's thigh. Thankfully, it looked like it would still function properly.

Stephen was still laughing when he opened a Plothole back to the Library and stepped through. When the Plothole closed, the basin was silent.

* * *

A/N: That's it, I guess. The last chapter of the Nameless Arc. I hope you all enjoyed it.

Please, leave a review.


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